Insects - Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs and Flowers - page 253

Archips rosana (Linnaeus) ( 633-634 )
Rose tortrix moth
An often abundant but minor garden pest of trees and
shrubs, including ornamentals such as crab-apple
( Malus ), flowering cherry ( Prunus ), rose ( Rosa ) and
certain conifers. Eurasiatic; also occurs in North
America. Widely distributed in Europe.

DESCRIPTION
Adult female: 20-28 mm wingspan; fore wings
purplish ochreous, each with a brown, reticulated
pattern and darker markings, and a dark spot at the tip;
hind wings brownish grey, suffused with orange
apically. Adult male: 19-23 mm wingspan; fore wings
purplish to purplish ochreous, each with dark reddish-
brown, velvety markings and a dark spot at the tip; hind
wings greyish, tinged with orange apically. Egg:
0.6-0.7 mm across; flat and almost circular; green and
laid in a large raft-like batch. Larva: up to 22 mm long;
light green to greyish green, with pale pinacula; head
chestnut-brown or black; prothoracic plate chestnut-
brown, with darker lateral and hind margins, a pale
anterior margin and a pale, narrow mid-line; anal plate
green or grey; thoracic legs brownish black or black;
prothoracic spiracle elliptical and hindmost spiracle
distinctly larger than the rest. Pupa: 9-14 mm long;
dark yellowish brown to blackish brown.

DESCRIPTION
Adult female: 17-24 mm wingspan; fore wings darker
brown and markings more diffuse than in male; hind
wings grey, suffused apically with orange-yellow.
Adult male: 15-18 mm wingspan; fore wings light
brown to purplish brown, with dark brown, often
pinkish-tinged, markings; hind wings grey. Egg: 0.9 ×

0.7 mm; flat, oval and greyish green; laid in a large raft.
Larva: up to 22 mm long; light green to dark green,
with pale pinacula; head and prothoracic plate light
brown to black; anal plate green or light brown. Pupa:
9-11 mm long; dark brown.

LIFE HISTORY
Adults occur from June to September but are usually
most abundant in July. Eggs are deposited on the leaves
in flat, oval batches of about 50, with the shells
overlapping like roof tiles. The eggs, which are
extremely difficult to find as they closely match the
colour of the leaves, hatch in about three weeks. The
larvae feed on the foliage for a few weeks and then enter
hibernation. Overwintered larvae become active in late
March or April, immediately burrowing into the
opening buds. Larvae later attack the foliage, each
webbing two or more leaves together and sheltering
between them, or forming a retreat by spinning a dead
leaf to a healthy one or to a twig. Larval development is
completed in May or June. Individuals then pupate
within the larval habitation or within freshly spun leaves
nearby. Adults emerge three or more weeks later. In
favourable situations, when adult emergence and egg
laying is particularly advanced, some larvae feed up and
pupate, to produce a partial second generation of moths
in the late summer or early autumn.

633

633 Male rose tortrix moth ( Archips rosana ).

634

DAMAGE
Attacks on buds are potentially serious. Also, larval
feeding or the presence of their webbing disfigures, and
may also affect the development of, young shoots.
Damage to fully expanded foliage is usually
unimportant.

634 Larva of rose tortrix moth ( Archips rosana ).